


Cold Feet

by kimpotato



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25358194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimpotato/pseuds/kimpotato
Summary: If Minhyun could turn back the hands of time and pick a day to return to, he’d choose that moment.
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun & Kim Jonghyun | JR, Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Kudos: 15
Collections: Nu'fics x The Parallel





	Cold Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Nu'fics x The Parallel Fic Fest  
> Category: Crossover: TV Show

If Minhyun could turn back the hands of time and pick a day to return to, he’d choose that moment. Whenever his marriage stressed him out, his mind immediately went back to that moment. That day, if he had chosen not to go back to his wedding, if he went to some faraway country, like Jonghyun had suggested, he’d be living a very different life now.

***

“You cleaned up well.”

Minhyun turned to the door, only to find three of his best friends grinning at him like idiots. He managed to offer them a small nervous smile, fingers still slightly shaking as he tried to unsuccessfully fix his damned tie.

“Are you trying to choke yourself with that?” Mingi huffed, walking in the room to whack Minhyun’s hands away from the front of his dress shirt. Dongho and Jonghyun chuckled as they followed inside, the former making a quick beeline for the mini-snack bar prepared for the groom and his entourage. 

“Sorry,” Minhyun laughed uneasily, letting his friend fix his tie in his stead.

“That nervous, huh?” Jonghyun grinned as he gripped Minhyun’s shoulder and squeezed it in an act of solidarity and brotherhood.

Minhyun tried to reply, but all that came out of his throat was a small croak, a betrayal of his usual honey voice. Jonghyun squeezed his shoulder once more and spared him a sympathetic smile.

“It’s not too late to back out, you know,” Dongho joked from the snack bar, hands already breaking a cupcake in two. 

“Don’t let Sujin-noona hear you,” Mingi warned their friend. “You’ll never hear the end of it.”

Dongho snorted, and even Minhyun managed a small chuckle. It was true anyway; his sister had spent almost a year planning and organizing his wedding, because, in her own words, “You’d turn it into a gag concert otherwise.” Minhyun’s bride had all been too willing to let the older Hwang take the reins; she wanted a fairy tale wedding but was clueless on how to plan it by herself.

“I think we need to go look for Hyung now,” Jonghyun reminded the other two, already pulling Mingi away from the full-body mirror. “Make sure he doesn’t attack the buffet table before he could officiate the ceremony.”

Minhyun’s three friends waved him goodbye and filed out the door one by one. He took a deep shaky breath, and then froze when Jonghyun peeked back in, both eyebrows raised, as if asking silently if he was all right.

Minhyun smiled and nodded, after which Jonghyun flashed him a thumbs-up, and mouthed that everything will be fine. And then he was gone, and Minhyun asked himself, not for the first time that day, if he was really okay.

***

He was lining up for the entourage when he realized that he was, in fact, _not_ fine. It started with a tingling in his fingertips, like he had been zapped by an invisible force. He felt his stomach churn, and then he began to sweat bullets, even when he wasn’t prone to perspiring even on hot and humid days.

“I think I’m going to hurl,” he whispered to Jonghyun, who was standing closest to him, as was custom since he was his best man.

Jonghyun’s eyes sparkled in concern, and he immediately planted one solid hand on Minhyun’s back. “I’ll tell Noona we need five more minutes,” he replied, gently pushing him away. “Go.”

Minhyun nodded and rushed away, not paying attention to Sujin’s indignant yell and Jonghyun’s soothing voice that followed. He barely made it to the men’s room to empty the contents of his stomach, a feat in itself since he hadn’t had the appetite for anything since that morning.

When he finished, he splashed his face with cold water, not caring about ruining his makeup. As he grabbed a few tissue pieces to wipe his drenched cheeks, he found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror. It was as if he were staring at a complete stranger.

“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed, resting his forehead against the glass and closing his eyes. He inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, and then released one long exhale. Then he looked up and glared at the ceiling, Dongho’s earlier statement ringing in his ears.

Minhyun shook his head and slapped his cheeks, hard. Taking one last deep breath, he faced himself again in the mirror, his mind made up.

***

“There you are.”

Minhyun looked up from his hunched position on the sidewalk and found Jonghyun looking sympathetically at him. He offered him a small smile, then buried his face in his arms again.

“I didn’t want to be found.”

He heard Jonghyun sigh and then felt him sit beside him. Seconds later, Minhyun felt something cool against his skin. When he looked up, he found Jonghyun pressing a can of his favorite grapefruit aide against his arm.

“Cold grapefruit for your cold feet,” his best friend smiled, and though there was humor in Jonghyun’s voice, Minhyun heard no judgement or condemnation in it.

Minhyun accepted the gift and pressed it against his forehead. “How are things back there?”

“Mingi is doing damage control and Aaron-hyung is trying to convince Sujin-noona not to kill you,” Jonghyun answered. “Ah, Dongho is looking for you on the other side of town.” 

Jonghyun fished his phone from his pocket and dialled a number, as Minhyun waited for him to make the call.

“Found him, Dongho-ya. You can go back and tell Mingi and the others. . . . Yes, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes, don’t worry. . . . Use your charm, I know you can do it. Bye.”

Jonghyun ended the call and flashed Minhyun a soft smile. “So what happened?”

Minhyun shook his head and sighed. He wasn’t really sure what happened either. One minute he was headed back to the entourage, the second he was already running the opposite direction.

“I got scared.”

Jonghyun nodded, as if it were absolutely normal to feel nervous on his wedding day. “Tell me if you want to go somewhere else. I’ll take you there.”

Minhyun sniffed. “I don’t know where to go.”

“We can get your passport from your place. I’ll drive you to the airport. You can pick a random country.”

And for a split-second Minhyun actually considered it, just running away, flying to a new country and starting over. Except that meant going out of his comfort zone and leaving all the people he loved. And somehow, that scared him more than the prospect of getting married to someone he once thought was the love of his life.

“That’s stupid.”

Jonghyun grinned. “More stupid than getting married with one foot already out the door?”

Minhyun grimaced. “I do love her, you know.”

His best man nodded and smiled in understanding. “I don’t doubt it.”

Minhyun exhaled shakily. “So that settles it, I guess?”

Jonghyun smiled again and stood up, offering Minhyun a hand. Minhyun gripped it tightly as he stood up, as if by doing so he could borrow some of his best friend’s strength. 

“Ready?” Jonghyun’s eyes were kind.

Minhyun nodded, resolute. “Ready.”

***

“Do you, Hwang Minhyun, accept . . .”

Minhyun blocked out the rest of Aaron’s question, having already memorized it from the wedding rehearsals they’ve done the past week. Instead, he took the time to scan his surroundings, to really take in everyone’s faces.

His bride, a small, nervous smile on her lips, probably worried that Minhyun would run off last-second again. His heart melted, and he was reminded that he does love her, that he does, in fact, want to spend the rest of his life with her by his side.

His family—mother, father, sister—smiling at him from their special spots at the front of the garden ceremony, their eyes trying to convey how much they love him. 

His groomsmen, Dongho and Mingi, grinning at him from the side, their smiles clearly telling him that he has their full support.

And Jonghyun, right beside him, his best man, smiling softly, quietly reassuring him that no matter what tomorrow brings, things would be all right. _They_ would be all right.

Minhyun took a deep breath, squeezed his bride’s hands to reassure her, and smiled a gentle smile.

“I do.”

***

If Minhyun could turn back the hands of time and pick a day to return to, he’d choose that moment. Whenever his marriage stressed him out, he thought of that moment. That day, if he had chosen not to go back to his wedding, if he went to some faraway country, like Jonghyun had suggested, he’d be living a very different life now.

But it would be a life without his family, without his best friends. 

And that thought gave him comfort. That no matter how tough his life could get, at least he had the people he loved with him. It didn’t make life perfect, but it made him believe that everything would be fine.

###

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the first scene of "Romance is a Bonus Book."
> 
> Thank you, manager-nim, for the suggested additional scene.
> 
> Visit [KP's Corner](https://twitter.com/thelittlebugi/) for more of my plot bunnies and drabbles.


End file.
